I recently watched the video of Panos Panay unveiling Microsoft’s Surface Studio. You can feel his passion, excitement and pure love for this product jump through the video. Is the product cool? Absolutely. What’s impressive beyond the actual product, is how Panay dove into the working behaviors of different creatives and discovered how the different modalities create.

This is a guy who gets what it’s like for creatives to be immersed in their work. We don’t just get drawn in, we become absorbed. The words, drawings, or music pour onto the page (or surface) from our minds and hearts. The tools are an extension of us, as we get up close and personal to our work. We even can be a bit (or a lot) quirky about having the right tools and environment.

It was encouraging to see product designed for artists/creatives…because honestly, why should gamers or techies have all the cool stuff? Panay and his team understand the creative process and their product’s innovation is intricate and layered. It was…Pure Imagination. Panay even had his friend Stephanie Tarling record the song as part of the presentation. The song’s essence captures the team and this product perfectly. Willy Wonka (Gene Wilder’s Wonka) would be proud.

In a world where so many focus on being divisive, where integrity and accountability are lacking, my hope got fired up by a team of Microsoft Surface creatives. They’re developing products for other creatives in a free market that still influences the world, and it’s the best representation of capitalism I’ve seen in a long while. Bravo to pure imagination, to making dreams come to life and to enjoying the work.